8 Simple Ways to Keep Within your Wedding Budget

One of the most difficult aspects of wedding planning is keeping within your wedding budget. But it can be done, without a lot of sleepless nights, if you pay attention to 8 simple things

1. Prioritise. Decide what aspect of the wedding is the most important to you. Take the time to think about where you want to splurge and put your time, effort, and money into that.
2. Learn to say No (and let go of guilt when you do). Vendors can be very persuasive about upselling. Friends and relatives can pressure to you have a bigger, more formal wedding that you want. Trying to please everyone could leave you both in debt and full of resentment.
3. Keep it small. Each and every guest carries a dollar cost, as does each and every member of your wedding party (bridesmaids/groomsmen) and that is not just the cost of feeding them at the reception. Larger venues tend to be more expensive to hire for both ceremony and reception. There is a per person cost for a wide range of hire and purchase costs – per chair, per sash, per invitation (not just the cost of printing but also the cost of postage, per favour (bonbonniere), per thank you card. And for you wedding party, there are the additional costs of bouquets/boutonnieres, transport, gifts, hair and makeup etc
   
4. Keep it casual. Formality costs. A tux costs more than a suit or trousers and shirt and braces. Formal table settings cost more, and so it goes.
5. Look for creative solutions. Your magic weapon consist of two words - What If?. Some what if brainstorming will help you come up with creative solutions that don’t require an increase in your budget. For example, What If you don’t want a casual reception. What If you swapped a barbeque or buffet dinner for a sophisticated sit down high tea? Or What If you stick with the buffet dinner idea but have manned food stations?
6. Remember that a wedding is a creative event. Use your own talents and those of family and friends.
7. Don't forget that comfort is the greatest luxury. Are the chairs for the ceremony, and the tables and chairs for the reception comfortable? Is there enough seating for everyone? Will your guests be hot or cold at an outdoor wedding? Do you have enough loos? (1 for every 35 people is the benchmark). Ensuring these things takes a little care, makes your guests' experience one that feels like a big-budget wedding, but doesn’t take a big bite out of the budget.
8. Ask for help. Your wedding “registry” doesn't have to be one list at a big department store. It can consist of multiple lists and can include wedding-related items that creative friends and relatives can gift you instead of buying the more usual household things. For something pricey (like the flowers) you can provide the materials but they gift you with their skills. But, word of caution, don’t ask anyone to do anything that will detract from their enjoyment as a guest at your wedding.

Further information

• More information on Wedding Budgets
  

Thanks for reading!



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